Lead contamination in tissues of large avian scavengers in south-central Europe

Lead, cadmium, and other trace elements in the liver of golden eagles and white-tailed eagles: recent data from Poland and a systematic review of previous studies

“…2B ). The concentration of Pb in the livers of the golden eagles found in our study was comparable to those reported in other parts of the world excluding the values by Bassi et al ( 2021 ) from the alpine regions of Austria, France, Italy, and Switzerland, where the concentration of this metal was more than twice as high (Fig. 3 ).…”

“…(For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.) (Falandysz and Szefer 1983 ; Falandysz 1984 ; Falandysz et al 1988 , 2001 ; Craig et al 1990 ; Kim et al 1999 ; Iwata et al 2000 ; Kenntner et al 2001 , 2007 ; Krone et al 2004 , 2006 ; Kalisińska et al 2006 ; Helander et al 2021 , 2009 ; Jenni et al 2015 ; Madry et al 2015 ; Ishii et al 2017 , 2020 ; Ecke et al 2017 ; Isomursu et al 2018 ; Ganz et al 2018 ; Kanstrup et al 2019 ; Bassi et al 2021 ; Descalzo et al 2021 ; Viner and Kagan 2021 ; Slabe et al 2022 )

Fig. 4 Concentrations of Cd in the livers of golden eagles ( Aquila chrysaetos ) and white-tailed eagles ( Haliaeetus albicilla ) (in mg kg −1 dw).

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Reported mortality of Griffon VultureGyps fulvusin central Italy and indications for conservation and management

“…Diagnoses of pathologies were carried out depending on the outcome of the necropsy inspection. From 2011 to 2017 a subsample of vultures ( N = 11), three of which were also tested for embedded shots by X-ray, was analysed for lead concentration according to Bassi et al (2021). The occurrence of NSAIDs was assessed from 2017 to 2020 for 13 vultures.…”

“…In Asia, three formerly widespread species suffered a severe, rapid decline due to the use of diclofenac (Green et al 2004), and recent simulations suggested its high potential impact even on Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus populations in Europe (Green et al 2016). Other major causes of decline are represented by the use of pesticides in poison baits, targeted at killing wild mammalian predators and feral dogs (Diekmann and Strachan 2006), and by lead poisoning, through the consumption of spent ammunition fragments in game carcasses and gut piles (Bassi et al 2021, Monclús et al 2020, Plaza et al 2020b). Finally, impact with wind turbines and death by collisions with power lines or electrocution represents another significant life threat for large soaring birds and raptors (de Lucas et al 2012, Martin et al 2012, Sarrazin et al 1994).…”

Comparative analysis of gut DNA viromes in wild and captive Himalayan vultures

“…Specifically, approximately 73% of vulture species are at a high risk of extinction, with 77% of global populations experiencing dramatic declines in the late 20th century ( Buechley and Sekercioglu, 2016 ). The decline is attributed to various factors such as dietary toxins [residual veterinary drugs in livestock carcasses ( Swan et al, 2006 ; Adawaren et al, 2018 ) and poisonous baits ( Margalida et al, 2019 ; van den Heever et al, 2019 )], habitat loss, lack of food resources, nest abandonment, low reproductive rate, hunting for traditional medicine or belief-based use ( Mckean et al, 2013 ), climate change ( Marneweck et al, 2021 ), heavy metal bioaccumulation ( Yamac et al, 2019 ; Bassi et al, 2021 ), and collisions with wind turbines ( de Lucas et al, 2012 ). Consequently, political measures, such as banning the veterinary use of diclofenac in India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh, as well as establishing supplementary feeding stations, are being implemented for vulture protection and conservation efforts ( Cortes-Avizanda et al, 2010 ; Moleon et al, 2014 ; Morales-Reyes et al, 2018 ; Blanco et al, 2019 ).…”